Protector
by Splattifying Agent 2
Summary: Sequel to Colour Blends! After a scare involving some Octarians, Jake decides to try and take down the king, much to Tori's dismay. (still rated T for minor swearz, as well as eventual [but not graphic] nudity)
1. Chapter 1

**[A/N] Here it is, the promised sequel! I can't gauge how good it'll be compared to the original, though. Umm… yeah, that's all for now, I guess. If you found this story first, then check out the original, Colour Blends, if you actually want to know what the hell is going on.**

Protector

It had been a month since Tori had returned to live with Jake, and so far, all was well. They were living happily, and having a lot of fun together. They had even been able to inform most of the area about Tori, and even though most of the Inklings were shocked at first, she was now able to go out in public. Even the police were okay with her, although it took a bit of convincing that she wouldn't cause any harm. Everything seemed perfect.

And it was too good to be true.

They were just sitting down to dinner when Jake got a chill. His head snapped toward the door. "Tori. How long has it been since you last used a weapon?"

"Umm…" Tori thought for a moment. "Coming up on two months now. Why?"

"Do you think you could still fight well?"

"Yeah, probably."

"Well, get ready, then."

Jake retreated into his closet and returned with four weapons; his N-ZAP '89, Custom Dual Squelcher, Jet Squelcher, and Tentatek Splattershot. He tossed the Splattershot at Tori, who caught it in surprise, placed the Jet Squelcher on the ground, and hoisted the N-ZAP and Dual Squelcher in his hands.

"Jake?" Tori asked, scared. "What's going-"

"Ssh!" he interrupted. He then shouted at the door, "Whoever's out there, identify yourself and you won't have to get hurt!"

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the door exploded inward in a flood of purple ink. Tori, realizing what was happening, jumped in front of Jake to shield him from the blast.

Once the debris cleared, they could see the cause of the explosion; a small fleet of Octocopters, led by three Octobombers. Behind them, a few Twintacle Octotroopers on hovering scooters were poised to attack.

"How did you get here?" Jake asked, without lowering his weapons.

One Octobomber hovered forward a ways. "That is not of your concern. We have come for the girl. Give her to us, and you may keep your life."

"What's your business with her?" Jake asked. "Her home is here. She isn't going with you creeps."

"Our orders have come directly from our king," the Octobomber replied. "We have been instructed to deliver her to him. Refuse, and she will be taken by force."

"We aren't going down without a fight!" Jake shouted, and began to shoot at them. Tori stood in shock for a moment before she began to fire her weapon as well.

The Octarians instantly sprang into action, but it didn't do them much good. With the combined force of the three weapons, and Jake and Tori's considerable skill, the Octarians' numbers quickly dwindled from close to twenty-five, all the way down to a single Twintacle Octotrooper in a matter of moments. The Octotrooper, realizing that it was fighting a losing battle, quickly tried to jet back to Octo Valley.

Jake discarded his N-ZAP to grab the Jet Squelcher and give chase while Tori followed him, trying to restrain him. "Jake! We already routed them! Let it go!"

"NO!" Jake yelled, desperately attempting to shake her off. "I'M NOT LETTING THEM HURT YOU! YOU AREN'T LEAVING ME AGAIN!" He quickly fired at the Octotrooper with his Jet Squelcher. His aim was good; the hovering device on the scooter broke when the ink hit it and the Octotrooper fell to the ground with a pathetic scream.

Jake finally shook Tori off of him, jumped to the ground and caught up with it as she followed. When he reached it, he quickly destroyed the scooter with a couple of shots from the Dual Squelcher. He grabbed the Octotrooper by one of its tentacles and pressed the weapon up against its head. It gave a tiny whimper.

Tori caught up, too. "Jake! Stop! What are you doing?!"

He pushed the Squelcher further into the creature's head. "I'm not letting them take you away from me! I'm not letting it happen again!"

"I got that, but calm down! They're all gone! We need to bring this one back to the apartment."

Jake finally looked in her direction. "What for?"

"It can answer some questions for us. Isn't that right?"

The Octotrooper looked between the two, scared, before giving a quick nod.

"See?" Tori asked. "Now come on, let's take it back to the apartment."

Jake got up, not releasing his grip on the Octotrooper or the weapon, and began to walk back to their home, with Tori at his side.

When they returned, he finally loosened his grip on the Twintacle Octotrooper and let it fall to the ground. He locked the door so it couldn't run away, and lowered his weapon, though his hand still twitched.

"Alright," he said. "First of all, how did you get here?"

The Octotrooper glared at him before replying. "We flew here, directly from the valley. Only Octolings can get through the grates, and one of them would be recognized in an instant."

"How did you know Tori was here?"

"We had a renaissance Octocopter keeping watch on her since she returned to the valley. We wanted to see that her time away hadn't changed her." Tori paled slightly and shivered. She hated the idea that she was being watched.

"Why?"

"We were originally under the impression that she had been captured, and wanted to make sure it didn't happen again. But it appears that we were wrong. When she returned here, of her own accord, our king requested that we bring her back, by force if need be."

"Okay, but you must have tons of Octolings in your army. Why does Tori matter so much to you?"

"The king can't stand the idea of any of his troops going over to the enemy. He wanted her to answer some questions when she returned."

Jake looked at Tori worriedly. She decided to ask a question. "How did you get orders from DJ Octavio? I thought Agent 3 took him down." Jake mentally kicked himself for not thinking to ask that.

"He escaped," the Octotrooper said simply. Tori drew a sharp breath. That wasn't good. "He's probably planning to take the Great Zapfish again. But if the topic comes up, you didn't hear it from me. You got any more questions?"

Jake and Tori looked at each other, then back to the Octotrooper before shaking their heads.

"Good," it said. "Because I have a question for you two. …How am I gonna get home?"

Jake's eyes widened. They hadn't thought of that.

"Well, we can't keep him here," Tori said.

Jake suddenly had an idea. "I got it! Tori, you know your way around Octo Valley, right?"

"…No, not really," Tori replied. Jake turned to the Octotrooper. "Do you?" he asked. It nodded.

"Perfect," he said. He gathered up the four weapons that he brought out to fight the Octarians and retreated back into his closet, returning with only two; an Aerospray RG and a Splattershot Jr. The Octotrooper gulped.

Jake, seeing its look of worry, said "Don't worry, I'm not gonna splat you. Tori, take this one, please," and handed Tori the Aerospray. "C'mon," he said, walking out the door. Tori and the Octotrooper followed.

When they got to the ground floor, Jake immediately went to work inking the ground with his Splattershot Jr. Tori, understanding his idea, started doing the same with the Aerospray. After a moment, both of their tentacles were rippling and shining, signaling a charged special weapon.

Tori reached up and patted her tentacles. "This is pretty cool," she said.

"Don't get used to it," Jake replied. "Now, when I say the word, you're going to use your special. The Aerospray comes with an Inkstrike, so you'll have ten seconds to choose a spot in the surrounding area to fire it. When it does…" He turned to the Octotrooper. "You are going to hold onto the thing for dear life as it takes you back to Octo Valley. I'll give you a Bubbler so you don't get splatted. Sound good?"

The Octotrooper started to protest, but Tori shushed it. "Do you have a better plan?"

"Great," Jake said. "You ready, Tori? Three… two… one… GO!"

The Inkstrike appeared on Tori's back. The Octotrooper climbed aboard, held on with one tentacle, and used the other to select an area in Octo Valley that it knew. Just as the Inkstrike was about to take off, Jake activated his Bubbler and slapped the Octotrooper on its back, transferring the special to it.

They could hear the Octotrooper's scream as it landed, but the only ink they saw came from the Inkstrike, so it looked like the Octotrooper made it back safely. Tori breathed a light sigh of relief before grabbing Jake's collar and dragging him back up to the apartment. "We need to talk."

Jake yelped in surprise and pain. "Ow! Watch the clothes, Tori! This is my favourite cardigan and I can only buy the one!"

He stopped his protests quickly as Tori dragged him into the apartment before releasing him, slamming the door, and shouting at him angrily. "What the HELL was that about?!"

"What? What are you talking about?" Jake asked, confused.

"When those Octarians were attacking! They were gone! We took them down! That Octotrooper was the only one left, and you went absolutely _ballistic_ trying to splat it! What the hell's wrong?!"

Jake stuttered for a moment. "I-I… just wanted… to protect… you…"

"They can't hurt me, though!" Tori retorted. "Their ink doesn't touch me! I'm an Octarian, remember? You're the one who was in danger!"

"I wasn't really… thinking… straight…" Jake replied. He couldn't stand Tori yelling at him, and tears started running down his face, silently.

Tori scoffed. "Damn right you weren't!" Noticing that he was crying, she calmed down a bit. "Look, Jake. I appreciate the gesture, and it's good knowing that you'll always be there for me. But… Jake, I love you, and I don't want you to just throw your life away for me. I… I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Promise me that you won't do that again."

Jake brushed away his tears and looked into Tori's face. "…I can't promise that, Tori."

Now, it was Tori's turn to cry. " _Why_?" she asked. "Why do you want to die for me? I wouldn't be able to s-stand it if I lost you… Why can't you just promise me that you'll stay safe?"

"Because I can't let this happen again," Jake replied softly. "I'm not going to let anyone take you away from me. And I know just the way to do it, too. I'm gonna take him down."

"Who?" Tori asked, already knowing the answer.

"DJ Octavio," Jake replied. "Your former king. I'm gonna do what Agent 3 couldn't do. I'm sorry, Tori, but I'm not letting anything happen to you. And I think this is the only way. I'm not letting those Octarians take you away."

Tori instantly shook her head. "Nope. Nuh-uh. No way. That is exactly what I just told you _not_ to do. I am _not_ letting you fight Octavio. _Especially_ not by yourself."

Jake dismissed her arguments entirely. "My mind's made up, Tori. I'm sorry, but you aren't convincing me otherwise. I need to make sure that you're safe."

"But _why_?!" Tori asked pleadingly. "Why do you need to try and take down Octavio? Why can't you just leave it to Agent 3? Jake, please, I'm begging you, put yourself first for once! The king isn't someone you can just waltz in and splat, he's the leader of the Octarians for a good reason! It's not something that just anyone can do-"

"Then it's a good thing I'm not just anyone," Jake said.

"What do you mean?" Tori asked.

"I have you," Jake said with a smile. "And as long as I have you, I have someone to fight for. I won't let myself lose as long as I have that."

The way Jake was speaking, it was hard for Tori not to believe him. She finally gave a grudging nod. "Alright, fine. But be careful."

Jake grinned at her. "Don't you worry. I'll be fine."

 **[A/N] Chapter 1 is finally finished, so here you go. Spot the plot I'm gonna be plagiarizing next, win a prize.**

 **By the way, I've received a couple of suggestions to maybe write a lemon featuring these two. I've only tried my hand at a lemon once before, but I'd like some feedback Do you guys think I should do it?**

 **And can someone PLEASE tell me whether I'm supposed to say "pleaded" or "pled?" I don't know and it's driving me insane.**


	2. Chapter 2

**[A/N] Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter, everybody! I figured it was "pleaded," but to me, "pled" sounds more correct. Oh well.**

 **As for the lemon, I will end up doing it… but not until this story is over. I'd hate to interrupt the action with… more action. And it's gonna be separate from this story, to whoever asked. I'd rather not put an M-rated chapter in a T-rated story where anyone can see it.**

 **I couldn't resist throwing an Undertale reference in here, as well as another reference to one of my favourite book series, so anyone who catches either one gets a cyber-cookie.**

The next morning, Jake nearly flew out of bed as soon as he woke up, quickly getting dressed for the day. Tori, who had taken to sleeping next to him regularly, slowly and groggily opened her eyes, lifting her head to look at him while blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

"Wha…?" she asked, still half-asleep. "Where's the fire?"

Jake looked back over at her with a smirk. "Morning," he said. "C'mon. Get up. We got places to go today."

Tori slowly sat up, stretching and yawning. "Where are we going?"

"Octo Valley!" Jake replied. "Remember? Today's the day."

"Oh, right…" Tori said. "Can you give me a few minutes to… you know, wake up?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, calming down a bit. "Take all the time you need."

Five minutes later, both of them were in the living room, ready to go.

They had walked out the door when Tori asked "So, why am I coming with you, again?"

"Moral support!" Jake replied. "Can't do something this important without my girlfriend here to remind me who I'm fighting for!"

"If it's so important, why are you so happy?"

"I dunno," Jake said. "Excited, I guess. I wanna put Octavio in his place. Situations like this call for epic music!"

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started to play a song. To Tori's surprise, it wasn't the Squid Sisters. In fact, she didn't recognize the song at all. It was half-upbeat, half-sinister, with lots of melodic electric guitar.

"What's that song?" she asked.

"Oh, it's from a video game," Jake replied. "You can only hear it if you decide to become the villain and kill everybody."

"Wow, that's pleasant," Tori teased. "Here I thought you were a good guy."

"What? No!" Jake said indignantly. "There's no way I could do something like that! My favourite characters in that game are enemies! No way could I kill 'em, even if it's just a game."

"You'll have to show me when we get back home."

"Yeah, I will. Oh, we're here."

They had arrived at the grate to Octo Valley. Nodding at one another, the two switched to their respective cephalopod forms and slipped through the grate.

Popping out at the other end, they looked around and saw the familiar concrete structures of Octo Valley. Right in front of them, however, was an old shack that looked like it had been very shabbily made. There were various pictures of Octarians on the front, and just to the left, there was a smaller structure that looked like a broken snow globe.

"Hello?" Jake called toward the shack. "Is anyone there?"

After a second, the door swung open, revealing a very old Inkling swinging a Bamboozler 14 Mk I around like a club.

"Come back for more, have ya?!" he yelled out angrily. "There's nothin' else here! All ya got is me! So whaddaya want, huh?!"

Jake took a step back, surprised, as the Inkling finally looked at him.

"Oh!" he said. "Yer not an Octarian! What are ya here for, squiddo?" It was then that he noticed Tori, and his eyes widened. "Oh, no! Yer not doing this again!" He charged up his Bamboozler and aimed it at Tori. Jake stepped in front of her.

"Wait!" he cried. "You're Cap'n Cuttlefish, right? The guy who hired Agent 3?"

"Yeah!" said the Cap'n. "Now get out of the way! That's an Octoling behind ya, whippersnapper!"

Jake shook his head. "She's safe. She doesn't have a weapon, and even if she did, she wouldn't want to hurt anyone. Right, Tori?"

She nodded, and the Cap'n thought for a moment before lowering his weapon.

"Well, if an Inkling trusts her, then I guess that's enough for me. Now, what can I do for ya?"

"I want to help put DJ Octavio away."

The Cap'n sized Jake up before disappearing into the shack. He reemerged a moment later with a very odd set of clothes, as well as a weapon.

"Here ya go!" he said. "Ya can't be a hero without a hero suit! It'll protect ya from Octo ink!"

Jake looked at the clothes. "Alright. Now, where's Octavio?"

"Just hold on a minute, whippersnapper," said Cap'n Cuttlefish. "Ya can't just go in there and take on Octavio. Ya gotta be trained."

"Trained?" Jake asked. "I don't have time for that! Octavio is out right now! He's gonna come back for Tori if we don't do something! And he's gonna take the Great Zapfish! I can fight! Just let me at him!"

"I'm not saying ya can't fight, squiddo," the Cap'n replied. "I'm sure yer great at Turf War. But Octavio is on a whole 'nother level of power. Luckily, I've set up a bunch of fake Zapfish around the valley, for training purposes. There's a total of thirty-one. Once you bring 'em all back, then I'll let you take on Octavio. If ya ever need any help, just say the word. The headset'll pick it up, and I can send you some backup. Any questions?"

"I have one," Tori said. "Where's Agent 3? Why can't he defeat Octavio? He's done it before, hasn't he?"

Cap'n Cuttlefish sighed, and studied the ground. "Yer right, whippersnapper. He did do it before. And he tried to do it again, but Octavio was too strong for him. Luckily, Agent 3 got out of there before things got too hairy, but I fear he's been put out of commission for good." He looked back up. "Y'see why I can't let you fight Octavio right now? I can't have it happen again."

Jake opened his mouth, about to say something, before catching a sideways glance from Tori. He closed his mouth again and nodded.

"Alrighty," said the Cap'n. "Get yerself changed, and I'll point ya to yer first kettle."

Jake disappeared into the shack, and came out a moment later sporting the hero suit, as well as the weapon.

"Perfect!" Cap'n Cuttlefish cried, and pointed in the opposite direction. "The kettle is that way. Turn into a squid, and you'll find yerself deeper in the enemy's hideout. Bring back the fake Zapfish, and I'll let you keep going."

Jake walked over to the kettle, and peered through the grating. He couldn't see anything. Looking back at the shack, he could see Tori smile and give a thumbs-up. Jake smiled back, and swam through the grate.

Tori waited anxiously for his return. Cap'n Cuttlefish had gone inside, so she was alone. She was worried about him. The Octarian army, despite being taken down by Agent 3, was hardly weak. She wasn't sure whether Jake would be okay.

About twenty minutes later, he popped out of the kettle, switching back to his humanoid form in midair. Tori ran at him, and pulled him into a hug, relieved.

Jake looked at her, surprised. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Tori responded. "I was just worried. Are you okay?"

Jake grinned, holding up a small Zapfish plush. "You bet I'm okay! Those Octarians didn't stand a chance! I got in and out totally untouched."

Tori smiled. Maybe she didn't need to be so worried after all.

"Well done, whippersnapper!" The Cap'n had come out of his cabin. "Ya got yer first Zapfish! But ya still got a long way to go! Gonna go for another one?"

Jake nodded. "I'd rather like to get this done as fast as possible. Can't have Octavio out for too long."

"Then get going!" replied the Cap'n.

"I'm gonna go back home," Tori said. "When do you think I can expect you?"

"Can't take too long," Jake said. "Hour and a half, tops. See you soon."

Tori waved goodbye, before walking back to the kettle that lead to Inkopolis.

{asterisks}

As Tori returned home, Jake got to work retrieving more fake Zapfish. He collected two more, and was about to call it a day when he noticed that there was only one kettle left in the area.

 _Might as well get it done now_ , he thought. He walked over to the kettle, and was about to swim through, but he hesitated.

He got a chill coming up from this one. There was something big down there. Jake steeled his nerves, and slipped through the grate.

The first thing he noticed when he arrived was that he was in an arena of some sort. Looking forward, there was a massive cube-shaped… _something_ on the other side of the arena.

When he approached, a Zapfish plush descended from the sky, and a large tentacle with an X-shaped scar grabbed it, pulling it inside the cube. Jolts of electricity moved along the cube, and it flipped.

Jake was surprised at what he saw. The closest face of the cube had a face on it, which resembled that of the Octotroopers he had been fighting. It was standing on two stubby-looking legs.

"What the hell are YOU?!" Jake shouted at it. The monster roared in response, and the battle began.

Jake was surprised at how wimpy the monster was. It was slow, and its attacks were easy to dodge. He was making quick work of it when he faltered. The thing took him by surprise, trapping one of his feet underneath it. Jake was unable to get up, and pain shot through his leg. Desperately, he tried to pull it out, to no avail.

It only took a moment for the monster to right itself again, and this time, it was aiming right at Jake. He quickly inked a path away from the thing, switched to squid form, and swam away as fast as he could. The beast got back up with pure hatred in its eyes, and scanned the arena for Jake. When its back was turned, he tossed a Burst Bomb on the other side of the arena, and switched back to squid form in a flash. It quickly turned back around to see where the noise had come from, but, seeing nothing, kept scanning the arena.

Jake tossed a couple more Burst Bombs until he figured he had enough room to swim around in, and popped out of his ink, almost buckling under the pain in his leg. "Over here, you hunk of scrap metal!"

The thing turned toward him, roared, moved to squish him. Jake forced himself to wait until the thing was in the air before darting out of the way, swimming up the creature's side, and splatting the exposed tentacle. Jumping back down, he saw its legs spin around quickly before stopping, and it exploded into waves of green ink.

Jake looked around the arena, and could feel himself coming down from the adrenaline that had been pumping through his veins. He threw his fists in the air. "WOOHOO!" he shouted. "Take THAT, Octarians! Agent 3's got nothing on this guy!"

He jumped for joy, and, upon coming back down, his leg exploded in pain. He let out a yelp, and limped toward the Zapfish cage, tossing a Burst Bomb at it and grabbing the plush.

He returned to the main area of the valley, and opted to Super Jump back to the grate leading to Inkopolis. When he landed (with a groan of pain), he walked to Cap'n Cuttlefish's door and gave a sharp knock. The door swung open immediately to reveal the Cap'n.

"What can I do for ya, bucko?" he asked.

"I'm done for the day," Jake said. "Can I come in and get changed?"

Cap'n Cuttlefish motioned for Jake to come inside. He entered the shack, and the Cap'n noticed his limp.

"What happened there, bucko?"

"Huh?" Jake asked, before realizing the Cap'n was talking about his leg. "Oh, nothing. Just got kind of banged up on my last mission. I'll be fine in a few hours."

"No, ya won't," the Cap'n replied. "Yer hurt. Badly, too. Take a couple days off."

"What? No!" Jake said, indignant. "I can fight! I can totally fight! It'll just be harder getting around, that's all-"

"Ya need to be in top form to fight the Octarians, whippersnapper," Cap'n Cuttlefish interrupted. "I'm not letting ya go in there with yer leg like that. I am telling ya, _take the day off_."

Jake opened his mouth, about to say something, when the Cap'n gave him a fearsome glare. He closed his mouth and grudgingly nodded, quickly changing back into his normal clothes.

"I'll see you back here in a few days, squiddo," said the Cap'n. "Rest up. When you can run again, come back."

Jake gave a salute, and was about to swim back to Inkopolis when a thought struck him. "Cap'n Cuttlefish?"

"Yeah?"

"The thing that busted up my leg… It was something that wasn't there in the other areas. It was this huge cube-shaped thing with a face. What was that all about?"

The Cap'n sighed. "It was the Octostomp. A Great Octoweapon. They were the Octarians' strongest weapons back in the Great Turf War. And there's more then just the one that you fought. When you're about to take one on, I'll give you some intel."

Jake nodded, and swam back to Inkopolis.

{asterisks}

Tori was reading a book when she heard keys in the lock. She quickly shut it, and looked up as the door opened.

Jake was in the doorway, leaning hard on the doorframe. "Tori? Can I get some help here?"

She quickly ran over to him, and gave him her shoulder. He hopped inside on one leg, and she kicked the door closed. "What happened?!"

"My leg got hit. Really, really badly," Jake said. "I was fighting this thing… Cap'n Cuttlefish called it the Octostomp. It landed on my leg."

Tori's face whitened. She had been so focused on Octavio that she had forgotten entirely about the Great Octoweapons.

"Tori? You okay?" Jake asked, waving a hand in front of her face. She blinked a couple of times, and helped him onto the couch.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "You need to be worrying about yourself. Your leg got crushed. I'll get you some ice." She went to the freezer, wrapped an ice pack in a cloth, and set it under his leg. Jake winced.

"It stings," he said.

"Of course it stings," she replied sharply. "You got _crushed_ , for goodness' sake. Just grit your teeth and bare it. It'll stop hurting after a while." Her expression softened. "I wish I knew what I should really be doing, though. I'm not much of a medic."

"Nah, you're doing fine," Jake replied with a smile. He paused, before deciding to mess with her. "Do you happen to have a little white dress, Tori? I've had this deep-seated nurse fantasy about you."

Tori blushed. "P-perv," she said. "You're such a boy."

Jake snickered. She was absolutely _adorable_ when she blushed. "Just making the best of a bad situation. I'm not gonna be going back to Octo Valley for a little while, anyway."

"Yeah, I figured," Tori said. "You gotta heal up before you go fighting anything else."

"Then it's a good thing I've got my guardian angel to take care of me," Jake joked.

Tori crossed her arms at him and gave him a quirky smile. "If you keep talking like that, this angel will fly away."

Jake laughed. "You wouldn't do that to me. C'mon, let's watch a movie."

 **[A/N] Sweet, got it done! I was procrastinating on this chapter for a while, and decided to finally get it done. If we were in a perfect world, the wait in between chapters would be no more than three days, but unfortunately, working isn't always what I want to do. I'm not totally happy with the ending of this chapter, but I don't really know how to make it better.**

 **You might notice I made a small addendum to the summary… Well, whether you want it or not, it's** _ **only for humorous purposes**_ **. Just gimme a little while.**

 **I'll be back soon! (I hope)**


	3. Chapter 3

**[A/N] This one seemed like mostly fluff to me, kind of. I'll see what you guys think. Be warned that if you want story progression, this is probably not a chapter for you. I think. Aw, hell, I'll just let you decide.**

 **This chapter and the next are a bit of a break from the action. Neither are very long, probably. We'll get back to Octo Valley by chapter 5-ish.**

 **(BTW, personal headcanon is that Inklings just can't swim, they aren't water soluble, so they can survive thunderstorms, showers, etc. just fine)**

After his healing period was over, Jake returned to Octo Valley to collect more Zapfish. Tori wasn't totally sure that he was ready, but after watching him run around the apartment at top speed, his leg seemed healed, so she sent him on his way.

And he was doing great. Jake would retrieve at least two fake Zapfish every day, and return home in triumph. He was confident that Octavio would be put back in his place in no time.

But then he hit a snag.

He was going for his ninth Zapfish, and had entered the kettle to find that he was in Kelp Dome.

"Kelp Dome?" he said into the headset. "What am I doing here?"

"There's Octolings ahead, bucko! It's an invasion!" came the reply.

Jake's face paled slightly. Octolings. He wasn't sure if he could do this.

He swallowed his fear, and jumped into battle. It didn't take long for the first Octoling to appear.

Jake hid in his ink and looked at her. The resemblance was uncanny. She looked exactly like Tori. Steeling himself, he leapt out of his ink and attempted to sprint past her toward the checkpoint.

The Octoling blocked his path with a snarl, and delivered a hard kick to his side. Jake, still refusing to fight, laid down a path of ink to swim in. The Octoling got stuck in the ink, and he swam away.

That was too close. But he wasn't sure if he could fight an Octoling. Jake decided to take on a more defensive approach; cover the ground in ink, and swim away as fast as possible.

He used this strategy whenever he ran into an Octoling, and it was working. The Zapfish was in sight, and Jake was making his way to it when one final Octoling attempted to stop him. Jake tried to evade her, but she took him by surprise, tackling him to the ground, grabbing him by his collar, and viciously punching every inch of him that she could reach. Jake struggled, but she didn't let up.

When he was sufficiently bruised, she unholstered her weapon and aimed it right at his face.

"That was a bad decision," she said. "You should've fought back. What a coward."

She was about to pull the trigger when Jake flared up in anger. He threw the Octoling off of him, and drop-kicked her away into a nearby wall, where she crumpled. He walked up to her still form, and shouted at her. "NO ONE calls me a coward!"

He shot the inkrail that led to the Zapfish, tossed a Burst Bomb at the cage, and grabbed the Zapfish before getting the hell out of there.

He Super Jumped back to the entrance to Inkopolis and knocked on Cap'n Cuttlefish's door, which swung open. The Cap'n's eyes widened when he saw Jake's heavily bruised self.

"What happened?!"

"The Octolings," he said. "I couldn't bring myself to fight 'em, and one of them got me good. I think I'm done for the day."

"I think ya are, too, squiddo!" Cap'n Cuttlefish let him in so he could change.

"If ya can't fight Octolings, then ya might have a bad time," said the Cap'n. "They're pretty widespread across the valley."

"I'll find a way," Jake replied. "…Somehow."

"Get yerself rested, bucko," the Cap'n advised. "Those bruises shouldn't stick around long."

Jake nodded, and returned to Inkopolis.

{asterisks}

Jake opened the door to his apartment to find Tori lying on the couch, fast asleep. He smiled at her sleeping form, before quietly making his way to his freezer to get some ice.

He wrapped it in a cloth and enjoyed the feeling of the cold ice against his face. It still stung a little, but he'd be good in no time.

Stretching, he realized that he was feeling tired. He'd take a nice, hot shower and have a nap. Yeah, that sounded good.

He removed the ice from his face, put it back in the freezer, and retreated into the bathroom. Removing himself from his clothes, Jake stepped into the shower and turned on the hot water.

It came out of the showerhead and cascaded blissfully down his body. Jake let out a long sigh and looked down at his chest. He wasn't just bruised, he was cut in a couple of places. One particularly long scar ran across half his chest. Jake had no idea when the Octoling had a chance to cut him, but maybe he just didn't notice at the time. He grimaced.

He stayed in the shower for a long time, just standing underneath the hot water. It did wonders for the pain. Eventually, the tank ran out. When the shower started spitting out cold water instead, he shut it off and stepped out. Stretching again, he dried himself off and clothed himself again.

Returning to the living room, and seeing Tori's still-sleeping form on the couch, he considered carrying her to his bed and sleeping next to her, but ultimately decided it probably wouldn't be good for her to wake up and have his bruised face be the first thing she saw. He settled himself under the covers of his bed, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

{asterisks}

Tori awoke from her nap with a yawn. She looked at the clock and raised her eyebrows in surprise. She had been out for a while. Jake was probably back by now, so she decided to look for him.

It didn't take long for her to find him, fast asleep in his room. She smiled and was about to leave when something caught her eye. Entering the room again, she silently pulled the covers back a little. Jake stirred, but didn't wake. When Tori saw the bruises, her eyes widened in shock.

She pulled back his shirt in curiosity, and his expression changed to one of discomfort. When she saw the cuts on his torso, Tori immediately went and found bandaging for them, and wrapped them up tight. Jake's expression softened again. She stood back, observing her handiwork, before getting into the bed with him and holding his body close to hers. She could feel his heartbeat, and his slightly ragged breath against her neck.

She decided to stay there, holding him, and hoped that he looked worse than he actually was.

{asterisks}

Jake woke up about fifteen minutes later. He was surprised to feel Tori holding him, and flinched a little at her touch. "Tori?" He cringed. His voice was a bit slurred.

She jumped a bit. "Oh, you're awake."

Jake yawned. "Yup. Did something happen while I was out?"

Tori shook her head. "Nothing except this." She gestured to his torso. "What happened to you?"

"Octolings," he said. "I just… I couldn't fight them. They looked just like you. And one of them took me by surprise, and, well…"

Tori bit her lip. "Jake, maybe you should stop. I… I'm starting to get worried. I don't want to lose you, and the Octarian army is really strong. If this keeps going on, you won't stand a chance against Octavio. Just… let someone else do it."

Jake shook his head. "I already told you, I can't do that. I started this, and I intend to see it through."

"Oh my God, will you _look at yourself_?!" she exclaimed. "Why can't you realize how badly you got hurt? You're covered in bruises from head to toe, you'd be bleeding _puddles_ if I hadn't patched you up, and you're talking like you've been drinking all day! Why can't you just learn when to give up?"

Jake practically melted under her pleading gaze. "You're right. I'm sorry. But I can't give up. I gotta take him down. I can't let him hurt you, and I can't let him do anything to the rest of us. I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna give up. And that's final."

"Jake-"

"I'm not talking about this any more. I'm not going to stop, and that's that."

Tori paused for a second before speaking again. "Fine. I can tell I can't stop you. But… please, please be careful. Don't be reckless. And try not to get yourself splatted."

Jake smiled. "Now that's something I can do."

 **[A/N] First, I want to apologize for how short this chapter is. Second, I want to apologize for how low-quality it is compared to some of my other work. I'm gonna extend the break to the next chapter (which is something I'm probably gonna regret), and we should get back to Octo Valley by chapter 5.**

 **Speaking of which, next chapter is probably also gonna be quite short and mostly fluffy. I'm sorry about making you guys wait so long only to deliver no plot progression whatsoever, but I'm sure there are better stories you could read in the time it takes for me to write these.**

 **This chapter was originally gonna go in a completely different direction, but I realized that I wanted to save that for later. You'll find out what I mean in a while.**

 **I'll be back soon! (probably)**

 **Oh, and by the way, the shower scene wasn't the aforementioned nudity. That's something you can still look forward to. *snicker***


	4. Chapter 4

**[A/N] I PROMISE we'll be back to the action next chapter. Because the next chapter is gonna be big. Real big. Plotwise, not word-countwise (probably). You can only have so much fluff, and I think I've put in too much already. I'm gonna suffocate you guys at this rate. So, I SWEAR the action will return next chapter. I feel like I can't apologize to you guys enough for this, so PLEASE don't hate me. However little it may seem like it, I love all you guys.**

 **At the rate I'm going, and with my current plans, the story should be around six or seven chapters long total.**

Tori sighed to herself as she looked around the empty apartment. Jake had already left for Octo Valley for the day, and she was left with little to do until he returned. Sure, there were multiple sources of entertainment around the apartment, but she knew she could only distract herself for so long before she'd get antsy.

She looked at the clock. It read 9:42. She sighed again. Jake probably wouldn't be back for a good few hours. He had been taking longer and longer each day, but it had paid off. So far, he had retrieved twenty-three fake Zapfish. Just a few more days, and he'd take on Octavio, and then it would all be over.

She carefully sniffed at the air, wrinkling her nose a little at the smell that she knew was coming from her. With all of the excitement lately, she'd been neglecting to shower. Her clothes were filthy, too.

A nice shower would keep her busy for a little while. Better yet, a bath. She hadn't had a bath in years, and could practically feel the water on her body already. She smiled, and retreated to the bathroom.

Looking down at herself, Tori scooped up her clothes, and tossed them into the washing machine. Two for the price of one, she reasoned. They'd probably be done by the time she was all clean. She started it up, and turned on the hot water in the bathtub. Once it was sufficiently full, she moved to climb in, but the water was a lot hotter than she expected. She let out a sharp yelp of pain, quickly removing her foot and hopping around a bit to cool it down.

Tori quickly reached into the tub, opened the drain, and let a bit of water drain out before filling up the space with cold water. She tested it again. Much better.

She sat in the water, momentarily submerging herself before coming back out. She let out a long sigh, closing her eyes and listening to the silence around her.

{asterisks}

"Whaddaya mean, I can't go out today?" Jake asked indignantly.

Cap'n Cuttlefish shook his head. "Yer too beaten up, bucko. I can't let ya go out there right now. Take it easy for a day or two."

"You know, this keeps happening," Jake replied. "You keep saying I'm too badly hurt, and I _always_ listen to you and go back home. Not today. I'm going out there, whether you like it or not!"

The Cap'n sighed. "Fine. C'mon in."

Jake entered the shack. The Cap'n was standing there, pointing up with one hand. Jake looked in the direction he was pointing, and saw his headset resting on a high shelf. He could probably grab it if he reached.

"Could ya get that for me, squiddo?" Cap'n Cuttlefish asked. "I ain't tall enough."

Jake nodded, and reached for the headset. His hand had almost closed around it when a searing pain shot through his whole body. He dropped the headset back where it was, and dropped to one knee in agony.

"What did I tell ya, squiddo?!" the Cap'n said. "Get yerself home. Rest up. Take it easy. Ya can go back out there when you can reach that headset. …This is gonna keep happening whenever ya take on the Octolings, ya know. Ya oughta have figured it out by now!"

Jake glared daggers at the Cap'n, who held his gaze just as fiercely. Jake looked away, sighed, mumbled an apology, and began the trek back home.

{asterisks}

"C'mon, you stupid machine," Tori said, hitting the washing machine a couple times. "Aren't you done yet?"

The washing machine said nothing.

Tori sighed in annoyance. She was all done with her bath, and needed to wait for the washing machine to be done with her clothes.

She walked into the bedroom, and tried to see if any of Jake's clothes fit. After a few minutes of looking and trying things on, she deduced that all of his clothes were too small. Not by much, but enough that she didn't feel comfortable wearing them.

She retreated to the bathroom, grumbling under her breath, and began opening cupboards and looking around. There was still only one towel.

She could easily have used it to cover herself, she knew, but she really wanted to make sure her tentacles were dry. Tori hated the feeling of her tentacles being damp. They felt slimy against her head. It wasn't a sensation she enjoyed.

Defeated, she wrapped the towel around her head and slowly made her way back into the living room. She moved into every room of the apartment, closing every curtain and blind that she could see, and making sure there was no possible way she could be seen. Once every window was covered, she sat on the couch.

She sighed slightly. The cool air of the apartment actually felt quite good against her skin, which was still warm from the bath. She cranked up some music (Jake tended to leave his phone when he went to Octo Valley), grabbed a book, and sat back, waiting for the washing machine to finish up.

She sat like that for a while. She had completely forgotten to check on the washing machine by this point, so she was still sitting on the couch.

And the music was so loud, she didn't even hear the keys in the lock. She didn't know someone was coming in until she saw the door swing open out of the corner of her eye.

Jake walked into the apartment, hunched over slightly from the pain in his body. "Hey, Tori. Cap'n Cuttlefish sent…" He looked up, noticing her for the first time. Tori's eyes widened while Jake's eyebrows shot up, and he smirked slightly.

"You've been busy," he stated.

Tori jumped off the couch. She stuttered for a moment, before awkwardly covering herself and shouting "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! CLOSE THE DAMN DOOR!"

Jake obeyed, still smirking. "Did you have some plans for when I came home, or…?"

"OH MY GOD!" she screamed. "I'M GETTING DRESSED!" She ran in the direction of the washing machine, grabbing her clothes and retreating into the bathroom. She slammed the door behind her.

She came back out a few minutes later, her face a deep crimson, and sat back down on the couch. She stared at the floor, and refused to look anywhere else.

Jake still had that stupid smirk on his face. "So, did you have any reason for that little show-"

"Please, stop talking," Tori interrupted, covering her face with her hands. "This is SO embarrassing…"

"What's embarrassing?" he asked. "It's not like it's the first time I've seen you naked. Or is this a regular thing and you didn't want me finding out? If it is, I'm all for it. Maybe I could even join in-"

"Seriously, stop," Tori said. She dropped her hands, revealing that she had a small smile on her face. "You're such a boy."

Jake sat down next to her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "And you're beautiful. C'mon, it's not like anyone's gonna see us," he said quietly, and lightly nibbled on her ear.

She shook her head. "I don't really feel like it right now. Too embarrassed. Give it a bit." Trying to change the subject, she asked "So, why are you home so early?"

"Same thing as usual," Jake replied. "Too busted up to do anything. Octolings again, you know."

"Jake, if this is gonna happen _every time_ you face off against Octolings-"

"I already said we aren't having this conversation," he interrupted. "I'm not stopping."

"I wasn't gonna ask you to stop," Tori said. "I was gonna say that you might wanna be more careful. The less you get hurt, the sooner this can get done, right?"

"I know, and I'm trying. But no matter what, there's _always_ one that gets me by surprise. Every time. Elite Octolings are starting to come in, too, and that definitely doesn't help."

Tori thought for a moment. "Well, look at it this way. You've already taken twenty-three fake Zapfish, right? You're almost done, so you probably won't have to worry about too many more Octolings."

Jake snorted. "Small comfort. But thanks."

"Anything you wanna do?" she asked.

Jake got a mischievous grin on his face, and moved his face closer to hers. "You know _exactly_ what I wanna do."

Tori giggled slightly, and leaned in. Jake was about to press his lips to hers when she jumped off the couch. "You'll have to catch me first!"

And she bolted right out the door. Jake, completely undeterred, sprinted after her, laughing.

 **[A/N] aaAAGH I'M A TERRIBLE PERSON I HATE MYSELF SO MUCH RIGHT NOW**

 **I am SO SORRY I made you guys wait so long for THIS. Not that I don't like it, but I already had one fluff chapter and I think another one right in a row might be overdoing it a little. Maybe I just hate story progression.**

 **SERIOUSLY. It's been almost TWO WEEKS since I wrote Reluctance, and close to a MONTH since the last time I updated this story. ugghhh stupid school and Christmas presents distracting me**

 **Infinite apologies go out to everybody following this story. I swear, things are actually going to HAPPEN in the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**[A/N] I said this was the chapter where stuff happened again, and I wasn't lying (for once).**

 **I recommend listening to** _ **I am Octavio**_ **during this chapter (DJ Octavio's battle theme). Not the whole time, mind you, but you'll know when you get there.**

 **This one's a bit shorter than I'd like, but I think it gets the point across pretty well.**

Jake looked around, making sure there was nothing waiting for him, before throwing a Burst Bomb at the cage and grabbing the Zapfish plush.

He popped out of the grate, Super Jumping back to the Cap'n to give it to him. He was excited.

The Cap'n opened up the door at the sound, and, upon seeing Jake, a smile spread across his face.

"Well done, bucko!" he cried. "That's the last one!"

Jake grinned. "So I can fight Octavio now?" he asked.

"Come back tomorrow," replied the Cap'n. "Ya gotta make sure yer in top form."

For once, Jake didn't argue, changing back to his regular clothes before saluting Cap'n Cuttlefish and returning to Inkopolis.

As soon as he opened the door, he ran over to Tori and swept her up into a hug, laughing. She was about to ask what happened when he cut her off with a kiss.

It took a moment for them to separate. Both were smiling.

"So what happened?" Tori asked.

"I'm done," Jake replied excitedly. "I'm all done. I'm gonna fight Octavio tomorrow!"

Tori's smile grew wider. "That's great!" she said. "It'll be nice to finally get to a normal life here."

Jake grinned and nodded. "That's all I want with you. And by this time tomorrow, we'll have it."

Tori smiled, and kissed him.

{asterisks}

Jake got up early the next day, throwing on his clothes, lightly kissing Tori's forehead, and walking out the door, leaving a note for her.

Gone was his excitement from the previous night. The gravity of the situation had sunk in; he was doing what Agent 3 couldn't do. He was fighting for Tori, for him and his friends, for all of Inkopolis. He was fighting to put the king of the Octarians away for good. With that thought in his mind, he entered Octo Valley.

He suited up in the Cap'n's shack. As Cap'n Cuttlefish wished him luck, he Super Jumped directly to the UFO that led to Octavio. He steeled his nerves before hopping in.

{asterisks}

Tori woke up shortly after Jake left. Feeling empty space on the bed next to her, she got up and walked out of the room. Spotting the note he left, she picked it up and started to read.

 _Tori, I'm sure you already know where I went. Sorry I didn't wait for you to get up, but this isn't really something I can put off. I might be a while, but don't worry. I can do this. When I get back, we can celebrate. Just think; we'll finally be able to have a regular life together. No more escape arts, no more Octavio. Nothing to get in the way. It almost makes me want to just stay here and never leave. Maybe when I come back, that's what I'll do._

 _I'll see you soon._

 _Love, Jake_

Tori read through the note twice. Despite what he had written, she couldn't bring herself to keep the worry out of her head.

 _Calm down_ , she told herself. _He's gonna be fine_.

{asterisks}

Jake popped out of the spawn pad in DJ Octavio's lair and looked around. The whole area was completely metallic. Every bit of a path he could see in front of him was made of metal, and he was surrounded by giant metal tentacles that glowed red.

Of course, the most noticeable thing was the giant machine in front of him, piloted by DJ Octavio himself. Jake gripped his Hero Shot tight, and glared up at the king, who laughed.

"Gya ha ha! You're the new shrimp who's supposed to have taken down my army?! You're even wimpier than that Agent 3! I'll squash you just as hard!"

"Save it!" Jake said. "I'm not Agent 3. I've got something a lot more important to fight for. And you aren't gonna beat me."

"Impudent inksquirt!" Octavio yelled. "I'll show you what happens when you mess with me!" He grabbed two wasabi sticks, and began to play his music. The sinister song surrounded the area, but Jake was undeterred. He spoke into his headset. "Agent 1? Agent 2? You there?"

A female voice spoke back. "You betcha!" It was Agent 1.

"What do you need?" asked Agent 2.

"Nothing except the gun in my hand," Jake replied. "I just hope you guys are watching me take him down."

"We wouldn't miss it for the world!" Agent 2 said.

"Good luck, Jake!" Agent 1 added. "Be careful!"

Jake smiled, and shouted at Octavio. "Bring it on!"

And the battle began. Octavio instantly began by firing small missiles in Jake's direction, which he destroyed easily. He launched wave after wave of the missiles, but each one fell prey to Jake's Hero Shot. Growling, Octavio launched one of the giant fists on the side of the machine directly at him, which Jake reflected back towards him with his weapon.

"Is that all you got?!" Jake taunted.

"You certainly fight like Agent 3, I'll give you that much!" Octavio shot back. "But let's see how you handle… this!"

The entire machine glowed as a huge octopus-shaped missile was fired. Jake stared up at it for a few seconds, and yawned. A few seconds later, he started shooting at it, and it was reflected back toward Octavio. They volleyed it back and forth a couple of times, before it exploded in DJ Octavio's face. He growled in anger, and piloted the machine away from Jake.

"Slimy little hipster!" he shouted.

Jake rolled his eyes. "That missile was wearing shutter shades, and _I'm_ the hipster?!"

He heard Agent 2 snicker as he gave chase.

Jake was surprised at how easy Octavio was to fight. Everything he tried to throw at him was incredibly slow, and Jake could've countered it all in his sleep. He kept up the taunts toward Octavio, who got progressively angrier. He could hear Agents 1 and 2 laughing their heads off, and he got cocky.

A giant metallic fist was flying right at his face, and he waited until the last possible second before firing it right back at Octavio.

The king's voice took on a darker tone. "I'll show you, punk. I'll show you not to mess with me!"

"Like you've been showing me this whole time?" Jake drawled. "Your minions gave me a tougher time than you."

He saw Octavio perform a complicated movement on the controls of the machine, and Jake finally saw the repercussions of his recklessness.

Every attack that DJ Octavio had used during the fight was coming right at him. Sixteen small missiles, three larger ones, both of the fists, and his Killer Wail were all aiming right at him. Jake tried to swim away, but Octavio was too fast. The first of the larger missiles cut off his only avenue of escape, and he was bombarded by the small ones. Agents 1 and 2 gasped into the headset.

"Jake!" they cried in unison.

The missiles knocked him to the ground, where he was unable to move. One of the hands grabbed him and brought him right up close to Octavio.

"Gya ha ha!" he laughed. "Did you really think you could beat me? I'll show you what happens to stupid little Inklings who think they can do anything!"

The hand started squeezing the breath out of Jake's lungs. He gasped for air, but it was futile. Amidst Agent 1 and 2's cries for him to keep fighting, the hand continued to crush his body as everything went black.


	6. Chapter 6

Tori was getting anxious. It was getting late, and Jake still hadn't returned. Scenarios began running through her head, all of the terrible things that might have happened. He might've been captured, he might've been defeated, he might've been splatted-

No. That was impossible. He couldn't have been splatted. He was going to be fine.

She tried to keep telling herself that, but it didn't work. She just couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly, horribly wrong.

 _I'll go check up on him_ , she thought. Yeah, that was a good idea. It would at least put her mind at ease.

She walked to the grate leading to Octo Valley and swam through it.

Coming out at the other side, she promptly walked up and knocked on the door to Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack.

The door swung open, revealing the Cap'n. He was hunched over slightly, leaning heavily on his Bamboozler. He studied Tori's face, saying nothing.

"Cap'n Cuttlefish, where's Jake?" she asked urgently. "He hasn't come back home yet. Where is he?"

He looked directly into her eyes, still refusing to say anything. Tori felt her heart drop out of her chest.

"No," she said, grabbing the sides of her head. Tears began welling up in her eyes. "No, no, no, no, no, that's impossible, he can't be gone, he can't be gone, this is just a joke, I'm having a nightmare-"

"He hasn't come back," the Cap'n said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"This can't be happening," Tori said. "This is all my fault…"

"Don't be ridiculous," said the Cap'n. "How is this your fault, lass?"

"I should've convinced him not to go," she replied miserably. "He's gone… He's gone, and it's all my fault!"

Cap'n Cuttlefish ushered her inside. She looked around the shack, and a tiny spark of hope flickered inside of her.

"Cap'n," she asked. "Do you have any more headsets?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I keep a bunch just in case. Why?"

"Do you have any spare weapons?"

"Yeah," the Cap'n said again. His eyes widened as he put two and two together. "You can't be thinking of-"

"I'm gonna go save him."

"I don't want anyone else losing to Octavio on my watch! Please, lass, please reconsider. I can get someone else to come in and do it."

"You aren't convincing me otherwise, Cap'n Cuttlefish," Tori said. "I got him into this mess, and I'm gonna get him out."

Cap'n Cuttlefish sighed, and stared at the floor. "Fine. I guess you wouldn't get hurt by his ink, anyway. But ya need a Hero Shot. And a headset. And ya gotta be real careful, got it? Ya can't swim in the ink from the Hero Shot."

Tori nodded. "I'll be back before you know it."

Cap'n Cuttlefish raised one finger, and disappeared into another room. Tori patiently waited for him, and he returned with an Octoshot in his hands. Her eyes widened. "Where did you get that?"

"Years ago, back from my days in the Squidbeak Splatoon. It's still functional, so you should take it just in case."

"Am I really gonna need it, though?" Tori asked.

The Cap'n shrugged. "I don't know. But better safe than sorry."

Tori took the weapon from his hands, and Super Jumped off to the UFO. Cap'n Cuttlefish watched her leave, sighing. He hoped that she wouldn't fall prey to Octavio, too.

{asterisks}

Tori reappeared in DJ Octavio's lair, glaring up at the king's machine with pure hatred in her eyes. She glanced up, and saw Jake hanging from the top of the machine by a rope tied around his body.

"Jake!" she called out to him. She thought she saw his eyes flutter, but it was hard to tell from the distance. She smiled. It looked like he was still alive, at least, if unconscious.

Octavio snorted, and Tori's eyes instantly fixated on him again.

"Gya ha ha!" he laughed. "Coming to save your boyfriend, huh? You must be the turncoat! What was your name, again… Tori, right? We're at a stalemate here, you know. Neither of us can hurt the other. So what's it gonna be?"

"I came to get him back," Tori said, raising the Octoshot. "And you're gonna give him to me, right now."

"Gya ha ha!" Octavio laughed again. "Oh, that's rich! You really think you can defeat your own king?! And with that wimpy thing? You couldn't touch me if you tried."

"You're not my king. You stopped being my king the instant I met him. Right now, you're nothing but another obstacle standing between me, him, and a happy life. And I'm gonna tear you down."

"You know, we could use your spunk back on the army," Octavio noted. "If you join me again, I might spare his life."

The Killer Wail mounted on the machine pointed directly at Jake and got ready to fire. His eyes finally opened, and he looked around before seeing Tori. His jaw dropped, and he looked at the Killer Wail aimed at him. His eyes widened.

"Tori!" he shouted. "What are you doing here?! You have to go! I can take him!"

Octavio's tentacle hovered over the controls. "Choose, girl. His life is in your hands."

Tori stared up at the machine helplessly and did the only thing she could think to do. She dropped her weapon on the ground. It fell with a clatter. Jake stared at her.

"What are you doing?" he yelled. "Tori, you can't do this! Don't worry about me! Just go home!"

"I'm sorry," she replied. "But I can't lose you. I _can't_. Even if it means I have to go back there."

Octavio laughed in triumph. "Looks like love trumps all! C'mon, I'll give you a ride."

He extended one of the hands on his machine. Tori stepped on it, and it retracted, bringing her directly to the cockpit.

"Are you ready to pledge your allegiance to me?" Octavio asked.

"Yes," Tori said flatly. "I'll join you…"

Jake looked on, unable to say anything, while Octavio chuckled in glee.

"When hell freezes over!"

She delivered a swift kick right in between DJ Octavio's unsuspecting eyes, and pushed him to the back of the machine. Looking at the controls, she used the turntables to play a quick, frantic melody that brought one of the hands to the top of the machine to remove Jake, while the Killer Wail retracted. She carefully set him down on the ground, and leapt down to join him, quickly untying his bonds.

"Smooth," he complimented. "You really had me going there."

"Yeah, well, we're not done just yet," she replied. "Have you still got your Hero Shot?"

Jake held it up. "Yeah. Somehow, he never noticed that I holstered it."

"Good," Tori said, holding up her own. "Then we'll take him down together."

Jake's eyebrows raised, but he had no time to ask questions as DJ Octavio got back to his "feet" and began to pilot his machine once again.

"You smug little-! Octarian or not, I'm taking you both down!"

Jake spoke into his headset. "Agents? You there?"

There was a moment of feedback, before he heard Agents 1 and 2. "Jake! You're still alive!"

"Yeah," he replied. "Seems I've got myself a guardian angel. Say hi."

"Hello," Tori said. "I'm the angel. Nice to meet you guys."

"This is great!" Agent 1 gushed. "Two of you working together? There's no way you can lose!"

"Good luck!" Agent 2 added. "C'mon, Cal- I mean, Agent 1, we got work to do!"

Both voices disappeared as Jake and Tori got ready to fight Octavio.

The king grabbed two wasabi sticks, and began to play the sinister song again. Jake was unaffected, but Tori twitched.

 _No,_ she thought. _No, no, not now, this can't be happening! That slimy scumbag!_

She took a shaky step away and forced some words out of her mouth. "Jake… you need… to get… away… from me…"

He looked at her, surprised. "What are you talking about?"

"The music…" she said, taking another step. "It… controls us… if we hear it… for too long… we lose control… to _him_ …"

Jake's eyes widened. "You can fight it, right? C'mon, Tori, please, stay with me! Stay with me! You have to fight it! You can't let him take you away!"

"I'm sorry…" she replied weakly. "I can't… You need… to stay away… That's how he… became king… if we don't do what he says… he makes us…"

Jake grabbed her shoulders. "Tori, no, please! You can't let him do it! You need to keep fighting! You need to-"

"Jake… I can't… I'm already… half gone…" She gave him a sad smile. "I love you… and I'm really sorry… for what's about to happen next…"

She rose up completely, and delivered a hard punch right in Jake's face. He fell to the ground, clutching his cheek and staring at her in disbelief. "Tori?" he asked helplessly.

Her mouth opened, and she laughed. It was a haughty laugh that didn't suit the mouth it was coming from. She put her hands on her hips and looked at him. " _Tori?_ " she asked, mimicking him. "She's gone. And it's gonna stay that way, until you're nothing but a puddle of ink that no one will remember. And just think; killed by the same face you fell in love with. It's more than you deserve."

She picked him up, tossed him into the air like a rag doll, and kicked him away. He rolled around a couple of times before coming to a full stop. He weakly lifted his head up and watched her come toward him.

Tori grabbed him by his collar. "Pathetic. I can't believe you got this far. Any last words?"

Jake coughed. "Yeah," he said, and paused before speaking again. "I think I might know one song that could snap you out of this."

"Oh?" she asked. "Such a shame you don't have it. What would that be?"

Jake grinned. "I don't need to tell you. Listen for yourself."

The music stopped. Jake could see something change in Tori's eyes. Behind her, DJ Octavio was frantically slamming on the controls of his machine, trying to get the music back, but to no avail. There was a momentary burst of static before Jake heard the most wonderful sound that had reached his ears all day.

Octavio's beats had disappeared, and were replaced by none other then the Squid Sisters. Tori's eyes widened, and she got up off of Jake, pulling him into a hug. She started to cry.

"I thought I was gonna kill you…" she said. "It was terrible… I could see everything I was doing, and I couldn't stop it…"

"Don't worry," Jake said quietly, returning the hug. "You're back now."

"Sorry we're late to the party!" Agent 2 said into the headset. "But, uh… Shouldn't you two get back to the problem at hand?"

"You got it!" Jake replied. The two separated, and prepared to face Octavio. Jake wobbled a bit, but quickly straightened himself.

"You okay?" Tori asked.

"Damn right I'm okay!" Jake cried. "Let's take this guy down!"

Tori smiled at him, and trained her weapon on the machine. DJ Octavio let out a primal roar, and let loose at the two with everything he had. Jake and Tori dashed right at him, dodged the Killer Wail, and went to work destroying the rest of the weapons. Missiles exploded, fists flew backward, and massive projectiles were sent hurtling back towards Octavio. He let out an anguished shriek, and was hurled from the machine, slowly falling to the ground. Jake and Tori stood above him.

"We'll show you what happens…" Tori began.

"To stupid little Octarians who think they can do anything!" Jake finished. They both raised their weapons, and shot Octavio right back into his machine. His face became stained with orange.

"This isn't over…" he spat out. "I'll… be… back…"

The machine exploded into a whirlwind of orange ink. Jake activated a Bubbler for Tori, and when the ink cleared, there was nothing. Both of them stood there, panting. They slowly turned to look at each other, and twin grins spread across their faces.

"We did it," Jake said simply.

"Yeah," Tori replied. "We did."

The sheer magnitude of the feat they just accomplished finally sunk in, and they jumped for joy, cheering. They could hear Agents 1 and 2 screaming their heads off into the headsets, offering up congratulations for the two of them. Once everyone calmed down, Jake and Tori slowly came together, and their lips met. Agents 1 and 2 wisely stayed silent.

Once they broke apart, they shared another smile, and began to make their way back home.

 **[A/N] Before anyone calls me out on this, yes, it actually HAS BEEN CONFIRMED that DJ Octavio controls the Octarians with his music. So that was not a personal plot device, it is canon.**

 **Anyway, while this might seem pretty final, I do still have one more little chapter prepared for this story, a much shorter, fluffier chapter that doesn't really have much of a bearing on anything, but after that… I don't know. I've been nursing an idea for a Pokémon story on the side, but I don't have any more ideas for these two lovesquids (can I really say that if one of them is an octopus?) for now. I kinda hate that, because I've really enjoyed writing these two, but… Oh well. All good things must come to an end, I guess. Luckily, that end is not today!**


	7. Chapter 7

**[A/N] Here it is, the final chapter… for now. I might not have any more plans just yet (that's a lie I totally have plans for these two but you won't see them for a few months), but you never know what the future holds.**

 **I can't seem to give Tori a break, can I? I can't seem to write more than two or three chapters without some kind of crappy emotional conflict. I feel** _ **disgusted**_ **with myself sometimes.**

 **Be warned that I am a terrible person for this opening bit.**

She was in a void, surrounded by black. There was nothing all around her, and she couldn't move.

Tori looked around helplessly. She struggled against the darkness, but was still unable to move.

A figure walked out of the blackness. The figure looked familiar. She looked up into its face, and saw that she was looking into her own eyes.

Not-Tori smirked at her. "Look at you. You're helpless and hopeless. Can't even get out of a little darkness."

Tori glared at her. Not-Tori put on a sickening smile.

"Nothing to say, huh? I'm not surprised. It's not like you'd be able to get out anything intelligent."

"I don't need to listen to this," Tori said, closing her eyes. "I'll wake up soon."

"What makes you think this is a dream?"

"Because I'm the real one. You don't exist."

Not-Tori's smile grew wider. "Don't I? Didn't you see me just a short time ago?"

Tori tried to keep her eyes squeezed shut, but an unseen force wrenched them open and tilted her head up towards Not-Tori. She put on the most fearsome glare she could muster.

Not-Tori feigned a look of fear. " _Oh, noooo, I'm soooo scaaaared_. Not. Let's have a little fun, shall we?"

Another figure melted out of the shadows. It was Jake. Tori stared at him, and he grinned wickedly at her.

"Hey," he said. "Oh, this is hilarious. This is the funniest thing I've seen all day." His tone turned colder. "You're absolutely pathetic. You actually think you made me love you? You couldn't be further from the truth. What is it in that stupid little head of yours that makes you think that _anybody_ could ever love you?"

Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she ducked her head down again. "Stop talking," she said quietly.

"Hmm, let me think about that. _No_ ," Not-Jake said mockingly. "You're useless. There's only one thing you've ever gotten right."

"And what's that?" Tori asked, afraid to hear the answer.

He walked closer to her, leaned down, and whispered in her ear. " _Your body_." His tone made her flinch, and then his lips descended on to her face. He was kissing her as his hands wandered all over her body without any sort of restraint. She struggled to get away, but still couldn't move.

"S-Stop," she pleaded.

"Why would I want to do that?" he asked. "Haven't we done it before? And in real life, too. What makes this any different?"

"This isn't real life, and you aren't Jake," Tori replied. "This is a nightmare. And I don't want to do this. Especially not after what you just said to me."

"Well, that's cute," Not-Jake said. "Too bad you don't have a choice." And he continued, going faster now. Tori screamed at him to stop, but he continued to ignore her. It felt like hours before she finally woke up.

Her eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright in the bed. She was still in pitch blackness, but now she could move. She wiggled all of her limbs, just to ensure she was completely out of the dream, before settling back down on the bed, listening to the real Jake's rhythmic breathing next to her.

But try as she might, she just couldn't get back to sleep. The memory of her nightmare was still fresh in her mind, and she couldn't seem to shake it, no matter how hard she tried. Realizing that she wasn't about to get any more rest, she slowly crept out the door, constantly keeping one eye on Jake. He stirred, but didn't wake up.

She flicked a light on, grabbed a book, sat on the couch, and started to read. Anything to get the dream out of her head.

{asterisks}

There was something wrong, he knew that much. Jake had never been good with body language and stuff like that, but he could read Tori like a book. Something was bothering her.

Heck, a _child_ could've seen that much. She had been avoiding him all day, as much as she could in the small apartment. He noticed the subtle way she scooted away from him on the couch, excusing herself from the room much more often… She didn't want to be around him, no doubt about that. He had to find out why, and that was just what he was gonna do.

She was on the couch in the living room, in much the same position she had been in most of the day. Tori hadn't even spoken to him much. Her nose was in the same book she had had since that morning, and it was starting to get on Jake's nerves. He silently crept up behind her, and tapped her on the shoulder.

She yelped, and visibly jolted. Placing one hand over her heart, she turned around and looked at him. "Don't do that!" she said. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry," Jake said. He walked around and sat next to her on the couch. "I need you to put the book down, though." She obeyed.

"Jake, what's wrong?" she asked. "You're starting to scare me."

"I haven't done anything, though," he pointed out. "All I said was that you need to put the book down." When she didn't answer, he pressed on. "Look, Tori, I know something is bothering you-"

"Nothing's bothering me," she interrupted.

"That's crap," Jake said. "I know it is. I know something's wrong, Tori, and I want to help. I've noticed how you've been avoiding me, and you've barely said a word today. Now, please, _tell me what's wrong_."

Tori stared at his face. He was serious. He didn't usually look this serious. They held each other's gaze for a moment, and Tori leaned forwards, aiming her lips toward his. Jake jerked back. She looked at him, surprised and a bit hurt.

He shook his head. "I'm not letting you distract me. We're gonna talk about this, whether you like it or not. Tell me," he finished firmly.

They stared at each other for a short time longer before Tori sighed. "…Fine. We can talk."

"Excellent," Jake said. "Now tell me what's wrong."

And she told him. She told him all about the nightmare that she had. She faltered a second when she thought about what Not-Jake had said to her, but, after a moment of deliberation, opted to say it aloud anyway. Jake arched an eyebrow, but didn't show any visual reaction other than that.

When she was done, he spoke. "Okay. First of all, I want to make sure that you know I'd never do something like that to you."

"I know," Tori replied. "You proved that to me already. Remember?"

Jake nodded. "Second… Really? You've been avoiding me all day because of a nightmare you had?"

"You weren't there," Tori said quietly. "You weren't there and it didn't affect you like that. Do you have any idea how it feels for the person you love to tell you everything wrong about you? Even if it's just a dream? It didn't really happen, and I _know_ that, but that doesn't change the fact that your face was the one that gave me that look. Your mouth was the one that said those words to me. Your lips kissed me, and your hands touched me even when I _told_ you I didn't want it. No, it didn't really happen, but it may as well have." Her voice was completely flat. Tears began to run down her face, but her voice didn't waver. There was no emotion to it whatsoever.

Jake hung on to every word that she said, but one thing near the beginning of her speech stuck out to him. "I told you what was wrong with you?"

"Weren't you paying attention?" she asked coldly. "You said I was pathetic. You said that I could never make anyone love me, and you said the only thing I ever got right was my body."

Jake shook his head. "No, I didn't."

Anger started to rise up from within her. "Yes, you did. Those were the exact words you said-"

"I didn't say those things. Tori, I know it's hard to tell right now, but _it was just a dream_. I never said those things, and I never would."

"The only reason you'd never say those things is because you're too nice to say them," she replied miserably. "I don't deserve someone like you."

"Tori… no. That's not what it is at all. I don't say those things because they aren't true, not because I'm too polite to. They aren't true, at all. They couldn't be further from the truth. Look at me." She obliged, looking directly into his eyes. "Tori, you're perfect. You aren't pathetic, you aren't unlovable, you aren't any of those things. You're amazing. If anything, I don't deserve you. You're beautiful, and not just in a sexy way. You have a beauty that comes out every time you smile. Every time your lips come up like that, I'm reminded why I fell for you. And I mean every word that's coming out of my mouth, from the bottom of my heart. I know that sounds cliché, but just bear with me, okay? Don't you _dare_ believe any of the words you heard in that dream. They're lies. Every last one of them. And I'm not gonna let you sit here and believe them when I know they aren't true."

Tori's lip started to quiver, and a new wave of tears flowed out of her. She buried her head in his shoulder, quietly crying. He held her close to him, comforting her.

When she was silent again, he pulled her away, and looked at her. "You good?"

She brushed the tears out of her face, nodded, and smiled.

Jake smiled back, planting a kiss on her forehead.

They sat there together for a moment, before a loud sound from outside made them both jump. It sounded like words.

Curious, they walked down to the plaza, and saw what the commotion was about. The big screen in the plaza was making an announcement. They couldn't quite make out all the words; all they could hear was the word "announcement."

The familiar jingle of Inkopolis News was heard, before the Squid Sisters appeared on the screen. They were obviously excited; Marie was wearing a grin wider than anyone had seen it before, and Callie was, well, Callie. A crowd had formed, and was staring up at the screen.

"Hold on to your tentacles…" Callie started.

"It's Inkopolis News time!" Marie finished.

"So, I bet you guys are wondering why we called you all down here, huh? Well, we got something REALLY important to tell you!"

"You remember how Agent 3 beat the Octarians a while ago? Well, their leader came back!" There was a collective gasp throughout the crowd. "And he beat Agent 3!" The crowd burst into muttering.

"But, these two managed to take him down before anything bad happened!"

"Oh, no…" Jake groaned.

"What's wrong?" Tori asked.

"We're gonna be famous. I don't wanna be famous."

"Who are these mysterious Inklings, you may be asking yourself," Callie said. "Well, you'd only be half right! Because one of them's not an Inkling!"

Nervous murmurs spread throughout the crowd.

"Our saviors are known as… Jake!" An image of Jake appeared on the screen.

"And Tori!" She appeared next to him.

All eyes in the plaza looked around frantically for the two of them. Jake tried to keep his head down, but was spotted almost instantly. Somebody shouted something, and suddenly everyone was looking at him and Tori. He buried his head in his hands.

"Ugh, I'm terrible with crowds…" he said.

"So in order to thank these two…" Callie said.

"We're coming at you live!"

The screen abruptly shut off, and an unseen spotlight shone a short distance away, where the Squid Sisters were standing on a stage. Somehow, everyone had been so occupied with the announcement that no one noticed the stage. The Sisters grinned at their audience.

"Hello, everybody!" they shouted. The audience cheered in response.

"We're real glad you came down and saw the announcement! So let's all welcome the night's stars!"

The spotlight moved toward Jake and Tori. The Squid Sisters watched them expectantly. When they didn't move, Marie said "What are you waiting for? C'mon up! No need to be shy just because we rock so much!"

The crowd laughed, and Tori looked at Jake. He was white as a sheet, barely moving. "C'mon, Jake. It won't be that bad."

"I c-can't go up there," he replied. "Everyone will look at me."

"Jake, the _Squid Sisters_ are up there. Do you think anyone'll be paying attention to us?"

Jake swallowed, and shakily made his way up to the stage. The audience cheered as they saw him, and a few catcalls rang through the crowd when Tori stepped up. She blushed deeply, having already been proven wrong.

"So how's it feel to be up here with us?" Callie asked.

"It's… really…" Jake stammered. "Really… fresh…"

Marie gave him a playful grin. "Aww, does someone have stage fright?"

"I'm just… not good with crowds…"

"What about you?" Callie asked Tori. "What do you think?"

"I'm starstruck!" Tori replied. "I'm a huge fan! He is, too. He just can't really say it. I can't believe I'm up here!"

"You wanna speak for him, then?"

"Um, sure. Let's see…" Tori said, counting on her fingers. She put on a devious smile. "He's absolutely smitten with you two, even though he's already got me; he keeps your music blasted constantly whenever he's in the apartment; and it wouldn't surprise me if he's- MMPH!"

Jake had reached up and clamped one hand over her mouth. He was blushing furiously.

"She's LYING!" he said, a bit too loudly. "None of that is true! Don't listen to a word she's saying!"

There was a moment of silence, before the Sisters started laughing uncontrollably, and the rest of the audience joined in.

"Don't worry about it!" Callie said, brushing a tear of laughter from her eye. "We've had worse! Now c'mon, let's get started! Any song requests from the two of you?"

Jake grinned at Tori, beckoned the Squid Sisters a bit closer, and whispered to them. They smiled.

"I guess we could do that!" Callie said brightly. "For you two, at least! What do you say, Marie?"

"I say we're doing it!" Marie replied.

"Then let's get this show on the road!"

And they launched into the only song that Jake or Tori would've requested. They stood on the stage with the Squid Sisters, watching the two dance and sing in awe. Every song they heard before, every time they saw the idols on TV, it couldn't compare to the two of them dancing right in front of their eyes.

The Sisters sang a few more songs after that before they deemed it was time to end the performance.

"Thanks, everyone!" Callie cried. "And let's have a big round of applause for our saviors!"

The audience erupted into cheers, and a few more catcalls. Jake and Tori waved at the crowd. "Still think that dream was true?" Jake muttered to her. She smiled at him and shook her head.

"Well, I'd say we're done for the night!" Marie said. "Thanks again for coming out! And remember…"

The Sisters did their signature pose. "Stay fresh!"

The audience cheered one last time before dispersing. Callie turned to Jake and Tori. "You guys stick around, okay? We wanna talk to you."

The two of them nodded, stepped off of the stage, and waited.

"What do you think they wanna talk about?" Jake asked nervously.

"Who knows?" Tori replied with a shrug. "I doubt whether it's just congratulations."

"Well, I guess we'll find out soon."

Just then, Callie and Marie approached them. Both of them held their hands behind their backs.

"You guys are wondering why we asked you to stay, right?" Callie asked.

Jake and Tori nodded in response.

"Well, just give us a second and we'll show you," Marie said. "C'mon, Callie."

The two of them walked backward into their nearby studio. Neither one revealed what was behind their backs. After a moment, they came out again, but they had changed their clothes. Callie wore a pink beanie with a small yellow star mounted on it, a pair of sunglasses, and a pink sweater. Marie sported a green cap with a small orange insignia, a surgical mask, and a green T-shirt. They stuck out their hands.

"Hi!" Callie said. "I'm Agent 1."

"And I'm Agent 2," Marie added. "Nice to meet you."

Jake and Tori's jaws dropped as "Agents 1 and 2" retracted their hands and giggled.

"You guys-" Jake stuttered. "You were- the whole- what the-"

"Yup!" Callie said excitedly.

"But don't tell anyone!" Marie said.

"I can't believe this!" Jake said, flabbergasted. "You guys were Agents 1 and 2 the whole time? Helping us out when we fought Octavio; that was _you_?!"

"You got it!" Marie replied.

"We should be thanking you!" Tori said. "I don't think we could've beaten him without your help! So… thanks."

"No problem!" Marie said.

"Oh! Almost forgot the other thing!" Callie said, digging in the pockets of her sweater. She pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, and scrawled something down before handing it to Jake. "Here you go!"

Jake looked at what was written on the paper, and his eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets.

"What? What is it?" Tori asked.

He showed the paper to her, and her expression matched Jake's. Two phone numbers were written down.

"Are these your-" Tori started.

"Yup," Callie said. "It's the least we can do. We, and the rest of Inkopolis, owe you a huge favor, so this is our way of paying you back! Call us up if you need anything!"

None of them said anything for a minute. Then Jake spoke up. "Thanks. Thanks a lot. For everything."

"Like I said," Callie replied. "It's the least we can do."

"Then I guess we'll see you later?" Tori asked.

"Sure!" Marie replied. "Can we have your number?"

Jake tore off a small piece of the paper. Callie gave him her pen, and he carefully wrote down his phone number and handed it to them.

"Great!" Marie said. "We should set something up some time. I'd love to get to know you guys a little better. You seem pretty fresh."

"Agreed!" the other three replied.

They said their goodbyes, and went their separate ways.

 **[A/N] OF COURSE THE LONGEST CHAPTER I WRITE FOR THIS STORY IS THE** _ **ONLY CHAPTER THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STORY**_

 **And BOY, that changed directions real quick.**

 **Regardless, that's the end of Protector. And for now, it's the end of Jake and Tori's story. For now.**

 **Before I go, I want to share something with you; birthdays. I know this'll seem a bit redundant now, but I'll tell you why in just a second. Jake's birthday is July 27th, while Tori's is on October 19th. Why those? Well, Jake's birthday is the same as mine (of course), and Tori's… well, I wanted it to be in October, for obvious reasons, but other than that, I just kinda chose a number I thought sounded good.**

 **The reason I'm telling you this is that I'm gonna write stories for these dates. It'll be a while before you see them, of course, but I'm planning to upload a story for both of their birthdays when those birthdays roll around. Thank God I have 6-9 months to work on them.**

 **Also, from the beginning of Colour Blends onward, they're both nineteen years old (that's legal, right? I think it's legal where I live, at least). The birthdays they'll be celebrating will be their twentieth, for both of them.**

 **I got nothing more to say for now (except that I'll maybe upload that Pokémon story between now and Jake's birthday), so goodbye! I'll see you back here (well, not** _ **here**_ **, but you know what I mean) in six months!**


End file.
